Dec 6th 22

How Much Does SEO Cost for a Small Business?

Table of Contents

SEO or Search Engine Optimization is a key factor for your success on the Internet. Without it, your website, even if it is thoroughly developed and exclusive, could stay unknown to your potential customers for a long time if not forever. SEO is not a single process but it is a full-fledged pack of tools that help your website to be relevant user's searches and queries. 

Even for a small business, using SEO is profitable as it helps both to find customers and to scale your business in the future. Yet, some business owners think that SEO rates are too costly and try their best to do all the things themselves. In RexSoft, we truly understand that position but we also have some arguments to prove you need SEO and it should be provided by experienced pros.

Relevant video about an SEO Cost 🎥

What Is SEO and What Services Does It Include?

Let's start with the basics of what SEO is. This is generally the optimization of your site and its content for the requirements of search engines. Whatever your advertising strategy, the chances that customers will come to you solely because of it are slim. It is much more realistic to rely on the SEO toolkit.

Let's take a simple example.  If you sell clothes for children at your store in Austin, Texas, you are most likely interested in customers from that location. Or you are ready to work with the delivery of your goods to other states. In a standard offline situation, people come to your store only seeing an advertisement or a signboard above the store. In an online environment, they need to understand what you offer to visit your site. This is the SEO's task to make your site informative, both for visitors and for search bots that rank sites when requested by the user. With the right SEO strategy, your site will be listed at the TOP of Google or Bing if the user requests baby clothes in Austin, Texas, and other similar queries.

Success in SEO reveals only when your site gets to the 1st page of search engines - TOP-10. 75% of all search traffic is generated by the first page of Google because most users do not go beyond the 1st page of the search.

In order for the site's pages to enter the TOP-10, 3 components are required: Technical optimization of the site, Content, and "Authority".

  • Technical site optimization - is the detection and correction of technical errors of the site, which can negatively affect the speed of loading pages, correct display of the site in browsers, and indexing by search engines. Also, technical optimization includes the development of site structure and placement of links between internal pages of the site.
  • Content - is the publication of high-quality, relevant, reliable, structured information content of the site (images, tables, texts, audio tracks, videos).
  • "Authority" is the work of increasing links from other sites, mentions of the brand on the Internet, and brand inquiries.

At the same time, the range of SEO services is wide enough. It includes:

  • Preliminary audit and site analysis, if you already have one.
  • Strategy development.
  • The introduction of SEO into the site engine consists of work with the order of web pages, the correct filling of tags and meta-data, and other operations with the site's functionality.
  • Development of relevant content and selection of the semantic core, that is, user requests and keywords from them, according to which your site should be located in search engines.
  • External and internal link building. That is, placing links to your site and its individual pages both inside your site itself and on third-party resources.
  • SEO promotion analytics and strategy correction in case of insufficient efficiency.

Of course, in each specific case, the range of SEO services for a small business will differ, because it depends both on your wishes and on the availability of the site, its current state and ranking, duration of work, and other factors.

Now is the time to consider what models of payment for SEO services for small businesses exist, and which of them should be given preference to you.

SEO Price Models for a Small Businesses

First of all, let's consider what the price for a package of SEO services consists of. The basic list may include preliminary consulting, planning, providing services to improve the website's ranking in search engines, and further maintenance. 

You should understand that SEO process is a long-lasting one as it requires constant control and flexible strategy that, in general, requires weeks to get any visible result and high ROI. Due to that, there are several SEO pricing models.  

Hourly SEO Rates

When you need to solve some problems with your SEO but you do not need constant work on your website and its promotion, the hourly model of SEO pricing for a small business is a good idea to choose. For small businesses, it is often the best option as small businesses do not require as many services as big ones, To be precise, an average rate for the hourly model is $20-$100 per hour.

Monthly Retainer

It is the most popular model as it refers to a classic scheme of monthly payments we all are used to. Sometimes, it is really comfortable to use that model, especially, if you want to scale up your business in the future. In that way, you'll get an outsourcing team of SEO pros at your hand constantly. Yet, you should pay for it from $1,000 up to $10,000+. The rate depends on the number of services provided, the appetite of an agency, and its specialists' skills. 

RexSoft offers customers 3 packages of SEO promotion - these are BASIC, GROWTH, SCALE-UP. The cost of packages is from $997/month to $4,997/month. Packages differ in the list of services and scope of work.

SEO packages for a Small Businesses by RexSoft

A monthly retainer is a pricing model that guarantees a fixed budget for a project no matter the time or other expenses. It allows you to set certain expectations for a budget without going over it. This pricing model is extremely suitable for small businesses since allows throughout calculation of a budget for SEO services. 

We have a number of SEO packages that might help you take your internet marketing to a new level. They all are fixed prices, so you don’t have to worry about draining your budget.

Basic
$997/Month

  • Keyword research, grouping
  • Competition Analysis
  • 1 x Blogs Per Month
  • Technical SEO Audits
  • Monthly Custom Report

Growth
$2,497/Month

  • Keyword research, grouping
  • Website structure design
  • Competition Analysis
  • Technical SEO Audits
  • Technical website optimization
  • Pagespeed optimization
  • SEO strategy development
  • Content Strategy Development
  • 4 x Press Releases/Guest Posts Per Month
  • Link Building Service
  • 4 x Blogs Per Month
  • Analytics and Reporting

Scale-Up
$4,997/Month

  • Keyword research, grouping
  • Website structure design
  • Competition Analysis
  • Technical SEO Audits
  • Technical website optimization
  • Pagespeed optimization
  • SEO strategy development
  • Content Strategy Development
  • 8 x Press Releases/Guest Posts Per Month
  • Link Building Service
  • 8 x Blogs Per Month
  • Analytics and Reporting

Project-Based SEO

If you are developing your website from the scratch, it could be profitable to choose project-based SEO services. These ones are also good for small business representatives. You sign a contract with an agency and choose services according to your budget. Agency pros provide you with them in terms of your project, then you pay them and, if necessary, sign another contract for the next project. It is also the best way to launch your Internet-based business in a specific niche or if you are developing your personality brand.

RexSoft's SEO specialists have prepared a list of SEO services from competitive analysis to preparation, performance of technical tasks, and content writing. Each client has the opportunity to choose only those services from the list that are most needed by the company.

Seo services cost from RexSoft

Analysis of the digital presence of main competitors

Prices, $
  • SEO - competitors analysis

    starting from 500
  • SMM - competitors analysis

    starting from 500

seo

  • Collection of search queries

    starting from 250
  • Grouping/clustering of search queries

    starting from 500
  • Creation of the structure of the website based on search queries clusters

    starting from 250
  • Website indexing improvement; increase of the page speed

    starting from 50 for one Tech spec
  • Creation of the Technical Requirements for content

    starting from 100 for one Tech spec
  • Increase of the Digital Authority of the website

    starting from 500 per month
  • SEO-texts creation

    $13 for 1000 characters

Ads, campaigns, retargeting

  • Advertising targeting campaign launch and optimization on Google Ads, Bing Ads, Facebook Ads

    starting from 500 per month
  • Advertising remarketing campaign

    starting from 250 per month

Analysis of website data

  • Integration of services for web-analytics: Google Tag Manager, Google Analytics, Hotjar

    starting from 250
  • Analytics set-up - tracking of target actions, scroll rate tracking, goal tracking

    starting from 250
  • Reporting

    starting from 250 per month

Blog content creation

  • Creation of the Technical Requirements for content

    starting from 100 for one Tech spec
  • SEO-texts creation

    $13 for 1000 characters

Fixed-Price SEO

Some may think that that model is the most convenient for a small business. Yet, it is not so. In that model, you agree to pay a certain price for the whole pack of SEO services. But you couldn't be sure that the pack you choose will fully meet your expectations and real-life situation. So be careful with it. As usual, that model requires a similar budget to the project-based SEO model. And it is $5,000+.

Hire seo specialists from RexSoft

Make your website a potent tool for expanding your business. You can sell more, reach a larger audience, and expand your business with RexSoft's SEO services. 

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TOP Factors That Influence SEO Cost for a Small Business

What сan affect small business SEO costs? You can find many such factors.

01

Hire a Large Reputable Agency or a Freelancer

If you want to get guaranteed quality SEO services, it is better to choose an agency with extensive experience. Firstly, you will get several specialists at once for full-fledged website promotion, and secondly, the range of services offered by agencies is usually wider. But paying for the agency's services will have to be much more expensive than for the work of a freelance specialist.

02

The List of Services Itself

It's one thing if you just need to modify the site a little and saturate its content with keywords, and everything else is already OK. And it is quite another to create an SEO strategy from scratch, develop software functionality and each web page of the site separately. Accordingly, prices will vary.

03

The Position of the Agency on the Issue of Prices

We have reviewed the average rates for US agencies. But in the world, the prices for SEO for small businesses can be dozens of times different.

TOP Recommendations on How to Reduce SEO Cost for a Small Businesses

Well, it's not so bad as it seems for a small business. We have some tips on how to reduce SEO costs for you.

  • Determine exactly the goals and timing of the SEO. The more accurately you outline the range of tasks and services that you need, the less likely you will be burdened with unnecessary services for not extra money for you.
  • Remember that the task of SEO in small business is to accurately target the audience and show your site to those who are really interested in your products or services.
  • Do not think that the higher the agency's status and the higher the prices for its services, the better for you. Small businesses often have a limited pool of SEO services, while large agencies offer turnkey services, rather adapted to large businesses and their goals.
  • Not only US residents can provide you with SEO services. For example, RexSoft employs talented SEOs from different countries. At the same time, their services are several times lower than those of representatives of American marketing and IT.

SEO is not a fad or a waste for your budget. Small businesses need it as much as large businesses do. But to approach the choice of a contractor wisely and choose a pricing model that will be profitable for you is no less important than promoting your site in the search engine rankings.

faq

Why fixed price model is good for small businesses?

It allows you to have complete control over your budget without worrying about going over it. Small businesses calculate their expenses carefully and this pricing model is very reassuring in this case. With us, you can exceed your expectations without spending more than you intended.

Why fixed price model is good for SEO services?

SEO services usually are more stable than development and have a lesser probability of mistakes. So, creating blog posts is a simple and not very lengthy process that on average takes the same amount of time. Most marketing services are definite so it’s easier to work with a fixed price model.

Why do I need SEO services?

If you want to be more visible on the internet, have customers see you on Google or other search engines, you need SEO for your small business. It has moderate cost so you can afford it and gain profits from this investment as soon as people start noticing you on the internet.

How to lower SEO services costs?

You can try outstaff. For example, our SEO services costs are much lower than if you’d decide to hire in-house SEO team.

Bogdan Misiurenko

Business Development Manager
I’ve got 5+ years of hands-on experience in building and executing software development services within numerous industry domains. Some of them include real estate, e-commerce, logistics, and retail. Let’s keep in touch and build something great together!
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